By The recent bombs that went off in three different countries by alleged Iranian agents against intended Israeli targets got me wondering if South Korea could also be a place where the Iranians may try and strike?:
Three Iranians detained after accidentally setting off explosives in Bangkok were planning to attack Israeli diplomats, Thailand’s top policeman said Thursday in the first confirmation by local officials that the group was plotting attacks in Thailand.
The allegation came after days of strong accusations by Israel thatIran was behind the botched plot as well as two others in India and the former Soviet republic of Georgia this week. Iran has denied the charges.
Citing the similarity of bombs used in New Delhi and Tbilisi, national police chief Gen. Prewpan Dhamapong said that Thai authorities now “know for certain that (the target) was Israeli diplomats.”
“This issue was about individuals and the targets were specific,” he said. “This was something personal.”
Israel has accused Iran of waging a covert campaign of state terror and has threatened military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. Iran has blamed the Jewish state for the recent killings of Iranian atomic scientists and has denied responsibility for all three bomb plots, including an explosion Monday in New Delhi that tore through an Israeli diplomatic vehicle, wounding the driver and a diplomat’s wife, and a foiled attempt the same day in Georgia. [Associated Press]
Considering there are plenty of Iranian expats in South Korea, Iran has strong ties with North Korea, and the recent announcement by South Korea to cut oil imports from Iran, it appears that South Korea could be a possible target for such a bombing. I don’t think the Iranians though would risk conducting a terrorist strike in South Korea until it is clear that the South Koreans are going to fully comply with cutting oil imports and implementing financial sanctions on the country. What a government says and what it actually does are two different stories so we will see what happens. With this all said, I would think the NIS would be keeping a close eye on all suspected Iranian agents in South Korea right now.
4:35 pm on February 16th, 2012 1
I’m fairly confident, even if they did, that it would not be a US target. That would require a bomb in their ass, and they know it. They may be challenged but they aren’t stupid. I do not think they want to give the US an excuse to pull 4 carrier groups up to their front door and loose hell on their facilities and military.
4:48 pm on February 16th, 2012 2
Iran has pretty good relations with India. The guys who did the bombing there may be loose cannons.
7:22 pm on February 16th, 2012 3
It wouldn’t be in Iran’s best interests to do so. South Korea is one of the largest oil importers in the world. Besides, it only begrudgingly stopped importing oil from Iran and I’m sure that both countries are counting the days for the embargo to cease in order to continue doing business with one another.
10:31 pm on February 16th, 2012 4
@1- I think they would go after Israeli targets unless we get involved in a war with Iran then all bets are off and USFK best increase force protection measures. However, like I said in the article I don’t see the Iranians doing anything unless the Koreans are really serious about the sanctions. I wouldn’t be surprised if implementing the sanctions are dragged out for as long as possible by the ROK so they don’t actually have to implement them while still keeping the US happy by pretending to implement them.
Kind of like the Yongsan Garrison move.
11:49 pm on February 16th, 2012 5
According to the Bangkok Post, one of the guys who accidentally blew his legs off in Bangkok had arrived in Thailand from Seoul.
10:24 am on February 18th, 2012 6
Japan imported 313,000 b/d of crude from Iran, its fourth-biggest crude supplier, last year.
South Korea imported 82.59 million barrels–an average 225,000 b/d–of Iranian crude last year, up from 72.50 million barrels in 2010.
10:27 am on February 18th, 2012 7
Israel Pressures Japan on Iran
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204880404577230871356966362.html?mod=googlenews_wsj#articleTabs%3Dcomments
11:17 am on February 18th, 2012 8
I’m no terrorist…
…but, after arriving in Thailand from Seoul, I got more than my legs blown in Bangkok.
Apart from that…
This is worth reading… and thinking about.
Every Iranian I have ever dealt with has been a self-centered priick… exhibiting behaviors that would be diagnosed as sociopathy or psychopathy in the West.
This clearly explains what I had suspected.
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/02/17/how-iran-sees-america-and-what-america-does-not-want-to-see/
11:21 am on February 18th, 2012 9
As he seems interested in this issue, I would hope Glans would comment on this…
…but he generally ignores anything that doesn’t fit his paradigm.
9:31 pm on February 18th, 2012 10
I think the Iranian hardliners are too chicken to directly attack a US military facility, which would be significantly more difficult to do, probably provide less of a strong visual for the media, offer little in the way of scaring civilians, and invite military retaliation.
And South Korea is lacking in Jewish or Israeli targets. There’s no notable mosque and the embassy… where’s the embassy?
3:47 am on February 23rd, 2012 11
Iran has denied IAEA inspectors access to a military base. But it wasn’t under any obligation to let them go there. Here’s a calm report by Tony Karon at Time. He doesn’t even mention Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, whom some call a dictator, because Ali Khamenei is the real boss in Iran. And he notes that Khamenei “stressed that Iran was not building nuclear weapons because possession of such weapons would be ‘a sin,’ or ‘useless, harmful and dangerous.’”
4:14 am on February 23rd, 2012 12
Glans,
Do you think American political and religious leaders have the market cornered for bullshyt?
…or could you entertain the possibility that old Ali might be able to sling a little camelshyt to further his aims?
2:11 pm on February 23rd, 2012 13
ChickenHead, I think Khamenei is as nice a guy as Stalin or Mao, and neither of them started a nuclear war, nor did they give nuclear weapons to terrorists. I don’t think he considers Israel an existential threat to Iran, but even if he did, he wouldn’t have the right to attack it.
In the ordinary relations between individuals, we don’t say, “That guy has fertilizer and diesel fuel, he says they’re for their ordinary purposes, but I think he’s planning to make bombs, and he thinks my title to my property is invalid, he doesn’t like the way I treat the former owner, so I’m going to break into the shed where the fertilizer and fuel are stored.”
3:00 pm on March 15th, 2012 14
India has named three Iranian suspects in last month’s bombing of an Israeli embassy car: Houshan Afshar, Syed Ali Mehdi Sadr, and Mohammad Reza Abolghasemi. Harmeet Shah Singh reports at CNN.